Building upon a popular franchise, Max Payne 3 redefined shooters as a whole. A surprising new addition to Max Payne which took the game above and beyond what we had already thought was a superb play, the multiplayer experience, now incorporated into the third installment of the franchise is in your best interest to at least try out.

When Rockstar was working on Max Payne 3, their goal was to make the game top of line, for solo-play and multiplayer, so they didn’t retract the stand out aspects of single play such as Bullet Time or shootdodge. When I first heard this, I was wondering how that would all work in multiplayer, and doubted how great it would be – however, seeing the smooth animations and realistic nature of my single player game totally present in the multiplayer definitely grants Max Payne another credit for being such a well-rounded game, but isn’t the stand out aspect people will recognize Max Payne for.

In multiplayer you can play with up to 16 people in three different game modes. You can also choose to play either a free-aim or soft-lock aim game within these modes!

Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are exactly what you think they would be, with many customizable aspects such as loadout/weaponry, character customization, etc. which are all present in each game mode. The gameplay in the mode was a bit chunky to me, and reminded me a lot of the GTA IV multiplayer.

Payne Killer is more so the King-of-the-Hill of Max Payne. Max and Passos, Max’s partner throughout the story, fight for their lives as long as possible. The first killer of the game becomes Max and the first victim becomes Passos. They both get special weapons and abilities to use against the hoards of ‘baddies’, which would be the rest of the people playing that did not become Max or Passos! Everyone that is not Max or his partner are all on the same side, and can only score points by injuring or killing Max and/or Passos, with a bonus for becoming one of the two. Max and Passos earn their XP by killing those that are after them, and the winner is the player who scores the most points throughout the game, doesn’t have to be Max or Passos. I had a great deal of fun with this mode, as it’s not your typical King-of-the-Hill and it’s very exciting trying to become one of the two “star-players”.

Gang Wars is basically what Max Payne 3 multiplayer is all about. If you’ve played through and love the story mode you will be drawn to this mode even more so than the other due to the fact that key events from the story are used as an opening for these multiplayer matches. Motion-comics and Max’s iconic narratives are present in this mode as well. Gang wars definitely takes the cake within the modes, as I feel it truly reflects Max Payne’s originality brought to multiplayer.

A strong point in the Max Payne multiplayer experience, the maps, are pretty well rounded themselves. With quality overcoming quantity, it’s not as if you will get tired of the same areas because they are so great! But, if you have a different opinion than I, Rockstar has announced five downloadable map packs being released throughout 2012.

Like I stated earlier, the feel of the multiplayer is a lot like GTA IV. Bullet Time and shootdodge are two big differences yes, and fun additions with that, but after a while it gets a little complicated. Max Payne 3 multiplayer absolutely has a learning curve!

Adrenaline is a difference from the single-player game. You collect it from shooting and killing enemies and looting corpses as you play. Using a Burst costs you adrenaline. Bursts are special abilities like Bullet Time. You earn bursts by building your adrenaline meter. Each burst has three different levels, which basically are just more powerful variations.

Your stamina and health is represented by the character outline in the lower right corner of the screen. Health slowly regenerates and unlike story mode, painkillers are only used as a quick burst of health. Stamina recharges automatically after each use and is used to be able to sprint and roll. Sprinting isn’t much faster than just running, so to me it doesn’t really seem worth the use of stamina.

Character customization is rewarded to players throughout the six factions that are from the single player story, which were the Comando Sombra, De Marcos, UFE, Tropa Z, Punchinellos, and Cracha Preto.

Altogether Max Payne 3 multiplayer is a great addition, but not something that would replace your love for multiplayer classics such as Halo or Call of Duty. With a feel just like Grand Theft Auto, in a Max Payne setting, I guess you can’t go wrong, but the single-player mode of Max Payne 3 is the stand out of this game.